


The Castaway and the Mermaid

by laxit21



Series: Laxit21's Summer Sizzle Fics [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Mermaids, Olicity Summer Sizzle, mermaid au, mythical creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 19:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19409545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laxit21/pseuds/laxit21
Summary: While in the life raft, after the Gambit's sinking and his father's death, Oliver meets an unexpected person.Prompt: Mermaid AU!





	The Castaway and the Mermaid

**Author's Note:**

> For this story, the Gambit sinking was an actual accident. There's no Undertaking or anything. Oliver wouldn't become the Arrow in this universe.

Oliver wasn’t sure how long he’d been on this life raft for. He was so hungry and so tired, the days began to blur together. He’d fall asleep in the middle of the day, only to wake up and see the sun was still shining. He could’ve been asleep for five minutes, or it could’ve been a whole day. He had no way of knowing. He stared at the tarp on the other side of the raft. After the first day, his father’s body had began to smell. The smell attracted birds. He covered it with the tarp, hoping to keep the smell at bay, and so that he wouldn’t have to look at it for as long as he was adrift.

Oliver woke up from another one of his impromptu naps. He looked around. As expected, he was still in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. He was positive that he was going to die here, in this raft, in the middle of the ocean. He wondered if they’d ever find him.

As he was pondering how things had turned out like this, how a trip to China with his father had gone so wrong, when he heard something strange. It almost sounded like- was someone singing?

“Da-da-da-da-da. My heart is pierced by cupid. I disdain all glitter and gold. There is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold.” A melodic voice sang from a few feet away from him. He turned and saw a blonde woman who was most likely treading water. “Hello.”

“Hi. Great, now I’m seeing things.”

“Seeing what?”

“Well, you….you’re not real.” He argued.

“Yes, I am.” She said. She pulled an arm out of the water and touched his face. “Do I not feel real?”

“You- you’re here. You’re real. How? We’re in the middle of the ocean.” He said. “I’m Oliver.”

“I’m Felicity.” She said. She took a deep breath and scrunched up her nose. “What’s that smell?”

“It’s- look, my father and I, the boat we were on sunk. Is there- how close are we to shore?”

“This isn’t a boat?” She asked in a confused tone. She had never seen a boat, or a human, from this close up before. Most boats sailed quickly through the area, so she’d never gotten a very good look at one.

“No, it’s a raft. For emergencies.” He answered. “How close are we to shore?”

“A long way.” She answered sadly.

He was about to ask how she was this far out in the ocean when he saw something move underneath the water. A rainbow-colored fin of some kind. He watched it move and saw that it was coming from near where Felicity was swimming. It clicked in his mind a moment later.

“You’re a mermaid.”

“Yes, I am.” She said with a laugh. “What did you think I was?”

“A human.” He answered dumbly. “I’ve never met a mermaid before.”

“I’ve never met a human before.”

“Do you know how to get to land?”

“Some land, yes.” She answered. “But the closest land isn’t-it’s not nice land.” She said, shuddering. Lian Yu had been an island where mermaids liked to go. Not many humans traveled there, so they felt safer there. “The humans there aren’t nice.”

“What do you mean?”

“My sister Alena, she went there when she saw there were humans. She wanted to meet them. She never came back.” She said.

“Well, I don’t wanna go there.” He told her. “Do you know where there’s land with nicer humans? Can you tell me how to get there?”

“No. I know where it is, but I can’t really explain how to get there to you. I follow where the fish swim to, and you can’t see them.” She explained. “But I can take you there?”

“Yes. Please. I need to get back to my family.”

“Is it possible to steer this….raft?” She asked.

“I can try. Lead the way.”

Following Felicity, they slowly made their way through the ocean. It took a few days, but she kept telling Oliver she knew where she was going. They talked as they traveled, and she kept him from starving by catching fish for him to eat. He had no idea where she was leading him, but hoped they’d get there very soon. One day, she turned to him and told him he needed to move over.

“Why?”

“We’re close to land. The humans who watch the ocean for boats will be able to see this raft soon. My mother always told me not to let humans know we’re real. I wasn’t supposed to talk to you, but you looked alone and sad so-.” She trailed off. “Please move over.”

Oliver wasn’t sure how having a mermaid in his raft was any better than one in the water, but he moved over. They drifted for another day, following the tide. As they drifted, Felicity’s body started to dry off. When her tail was completely dry, it transformed into two human legs. A few hours after she had legs, Oliver heard shouting. The Australian Coast Guard had spotted the raft. There was a flurry of activity as a boat went out to help them and they were brought to shore.

Oliver thanked Felicity when things calmed down a little bit. He asked her if she’d stay with him for a few days. He knew she probably wanted to get back into the water, but wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet. She told him she’d never been on land before and wanted to see the human world for a little bit longer.

When Oliver flew back to Starling, after being released from the hospital and getting the paperwork completed to take his father’s body home, Felicity went with him. It was nice at first, but he knew she was starting to miss the sea. Six months after meeting Felicity, they moved to a small town on the coast. Rumors that mermaids inhabited the water off the coast started to circulate a few days after they moved in. No one ever seemed to make the connection.


End file.
